Tag Archives: Rainbow Road

Once a year a phenomenon occurs on the 3rd largest island of Korea, Jindo. For only forty minutes the sea parts to reveal a path that is about 40 m wide and stretches for almost 3 km. The road is known as the “Moses Miracle” as well as the “Rainbow Road” according to the legend. Last minute I heard about this rare event and decided to join a few of my friends who were renting a car to go down. To get to Jindo you have to drive to the furthermost southern tip of Korea and then cross a bridge that connects Korea to Jindo. We lucked out without hitting any traffic and made it down there within four hours. We had some time to kill before the sea would start receding so we stopped at a few farms to check out the famous Jindo dogs. Jindo is famous for this rare breed of dogs.

Jindo puppy

After playing with the puppies we headed to the main attraction, but little did I know this wouldn’t be my last encounter with them. On the coast there were tents set up with food and there were people playing traditional Korean music. I was surprised to see how many people were filling up the area. Apparently the actual festival was canceled this year due to the foot and mouth disease that had plagued the rural areas a few months ago, but they still had people selling their goods and entertaining the crowds.

Then we saw the sea begin to part. Thousands of people, foreigners and Koreans, lined up to start the journey walking through the sea. Of course we couldn’t start before we put on our snazzy boots.

The road from afar

As we got closer it was truly an amazing sight. The road quickly became filled with foreigners taking pictures and Koreans hard at work digging through the sand to collect shellfish, seaweed, octopus, and other rare finds.

Octopus

Starfish

Crab

The sea instantly filled with a winding path of people. People came from all over the world to see this miracle. I even ran into many of my friends from Seoul. Once we got to the end it was beautiful to see the rainbow of people standing in the middle of the ocean. It was such a fleeting moment. After less than an hour of walking we already had to turn back. It was sad to leave such a cool experience behind us, but we were ready to make our road trip back to Seoul….or so i thought.

When traveling with a group of people I have learned to always expect the unexpected. Going on this trip with one guy that I would consider an acquaintance and his three friends I really was going into the whole trip blind. So when the guys announced that we were going to a few more dog farms to get more price quotes on the Jindo dogs, I knew that we might have an extra body or two coming home with us. We stopped at another dog farm on the way home. I stayed in the car with another guy and being the realist that I am discussed the impulsiveness of their decision. About 20 minutes later my friend Dane and his friend and girlfriend came back to the car with two puppies. There’s no denying that they are adorable. Who wouldn’t want one? But really? I was in total shock that they actually went through with the decision, but who was I to tell anyone what to do? It wasn’t like they were coming home with me. So I tried to enjoy the car ride home with the cute little puppies. Half-way though I held one of the boxes on my lap. It was sad because I could feel the poor thing shaking the whole time. And it wasn’t the most pleasant thing since they smelled like a barnyard, but in the end we made it back safe. I know that my friends will take good care of them and I hope I can visit them now and then. Never in my whole life would I have expected we would have come back to Seoul with two live animals, but you never know what to expect when traveling.